The next morning both of the new parents are a little groggy, Rhino more than Gel, due to being woken up multiple times during the night in order to feed Ruby. However, thanks to a quick errand Rhino had run while Gel stayed home, this morning they were trying something to help with that.
Rhino looks up from where he is playing peekaboo with the pink filly as he hears the small motor in the pump turn off. "Well, it really didn't take you long at all to fill that bottle."
She gives him a wry smile. "This thing works fast, and my milk comes out that quickly." She pushes the machine off to the side as she puts the rubber nipple over the lip of the bottle. "I'm glad, though...it just didn't feel right..."
He nods. "Yeah, it honestly looked uncomfortable, sort of like if a foal had no technique or patience and just went as fast as they could."
She shrugs. "It's a new technology." She moves the bottle towards Ruby, smiling warmly. "Are you hungry?"
A sound from the foal's stomach would seem to confirm that. The pink filly immediately starts heading for Gel's teats to get her normal meal.
The nymph blinks, unsure what to think of this. "...Rhino? Please help?"
He raises an eyebrow at her. "Just pick her up with one hoof and feed her using the bottle. She doesn't know it's food yet."
She nods, carefully picking up their daughter with a foreleg. I'm sorry, I'm used to her moving for it on her own. She carefully holds the smaller bottle for her. "No, Ruby, this is your food."
The filly wiggles a moment as she tries to get out of her mother's grasp and back to what she sees as the only two sources of food, but soon relents and looks at the bottle in front of her. With her tiny tongue sticking out, she bats at it with a hoof, trying to figure out what it is.
Gel giggles, shaking her head. "No, Ruby, you drink from it."
She pokes the bottle with her nose, causing a small bit of milk to come out onto her muzzle. The filly makes a small squeak and wipes it off with a hoof before starting to wiggle again to get back to what she knows.
She frowns slightly, looking at the bottle questioningly. "...it's not that bad, is it?"
Rhino shakes his head. “I doubt it, she probably just isn’t used to the bottle.”
The nymph thinks for a bit before turning to him, holding it out. "Maybe you could show her it's fine?"
Sighing and trying not to think too much into exactly what he is about to do, Rhino takes the bottle. He walks t over in front of them and gets Ruby’s attention. "Hey, this is exactly the same stuff you're used to." He daps a few drops of the milk onto his hoof and licks it off so she can see. "See? Still good."
Ruby watches this the whole time and the tendency of foals to mimic their parents comes into play as soon as Gel offers the bottle to her again. She pokes the nipple of the bottle with her nose again and licks the milk as it comes out. As soon as she realizes it's the same liquid she gets elsewhere, she starts suckling in earnest.
Gel smiles softly, relieved. "...I'm glad she's taken a liking to it..." She turns to look at her stallion, curious. ...did you really like it, love?
Rhino coughs awkwardly as he turns away, a small blush visible on his cheeks. I, umm… No comment.
She giggles, playfully pushing his shoulder. You did, didn't you?
He stays turned away, but one can just see his blush growing around the sides of his face.
She leans over, gently nuzzling his cheek. There's no need to be embarrassed, love. I find it flattering...and besides... She gives him a small kiss. ...I don't think she'll mind if you share...as long as you leave her enough.
His blush stays as his mind tries to wrap around exactly how he is supposed to react to all this. Luckily, he gets a small reprieve as Ruby starts to make noises of discomfort, wiggling around and pulling unhappy faces.
Seeing this, Gel carefully places her on her shoulder, patting her on the back. It isn’t long before the filly burps, causing the changeling to sigh softly. "That's better, isn't it?"
As Gel sets the filly back on the ground, Ruby takes a look at the still partially full bottle, then to her mom before starting to head in a beeline for her teats.
Rhino’s blush fades as he chuckles. "I guess she's still hungry. It looks like she'll take the bottle, but she still has her preferred method of eating."
"It sure seems that way." She shakes her head before turning to him, eyes twinkling playfully. Maybe you should try her way, sometime.
His blush flares back into life at record speed as he scuffs a hoof on the floor. He actually manages to find his mental voice after a bit. Maybe… His tone makes it unclear whether he is serious or joking.
She rolls her eyes. You know you want to, Mister Milk Lover.
He nudges her lightly. At least you aren’t calling four gallons a week an addiction anymore.
Who am I to judge? She giggles, winking at him. We all have something we like, right?
And then we have somethings we love. He nuzzles her as he looks down fondly at the happily nursing Ruby.
She smiles, gently hugging him. Isn’t that the truth?
***
Later that day, the family are all in the living room for an important mission: teaching Ruby how to walk. The three pets watch from the couch as Rhino and Gel lay on their stomachs, facing each other, with a short distance between them.
Rhino looks to Gel, whom Ruby is currently snuggled against. “Ok, the main idea behind this is to call her to one of us, seeing how she tries to get there, setting her up on her legs, then letting the natural instincts do the rest to guide her muscles until they start knowing what to do. Should be simple, right?” The question is half to Gel and half to himself.
She nods, gently stroking their filly’s mane. “It should be...since she loves her daddy, she’ll be walking towards you, right?”
He taps the floor with a hoof. “Honestly I was thinking we would just go back and forth with it. I won’t deny you the joy of seeing her walking towards you with the adorable face.”
“I suppose that seems fair.” She looks up at him, smiling softly. “Are you ready?”
He nods, spreading his forelegs in a welcoming posture and smiling.
Gel looks to their daughter, gently nudging her. “Wake up, Ruby.”
The pink filly yawns, making a few quiet noises at being woken up. Her green eyes flutter open as she looks up at her mother, smiling and nuzzling against her more a moment later.
Rhino gets her attention by calling out to her. “Ruby? Over here. Can you come to Daddy?”
She looks over, smiling a bit more and starting to crawl over. She pauses, looking back at her mom, apparently unable to decide whether to stay or go.
The stallion looks to his wife. “Try setting her on her hooves and nudging her towards me.”
Gel nods, carefully placing their filly on her legs. “Go to Daddy.” She gently nudges Ruby, watching as she slowly totters forward.
With slow, unsteady steps, the filly makes it about halfway to Rhino before stumbling and falling onto the blanket. She blows a raspberry as she tries to work her way back to her hooves, but gives up after a moment and just crawls all the rest of the way over to him, nuzzling against the side of his face.
He chuckles and nuzzles her back as he comments to Gel. “That was pretty good for a first try.”
“Yes, it was.” She sighs softly, resting her head on her forelegs. “It was also really nerve-wracking.”
He tilts his head at her, causing Ruby to try and bite his nose. “Why would it be nerve-wracking?”
She nervously laughs. “...I thought she was going to cry when she fell...”
He cringes. “That wouldn’t have been good…” He looks to the filly and blows a little air on her belly to tickle her. “Do you want to try heading back to Mommy, now?”
She tilts her head at him, not really understanding his words, but smiling as he tickles her. He sets her back up on her hooves and nudges her towards Gel. “Call her, love.”
The changeling smiles warmly. “Ruby, come to Mommy.”
The filly makes happy noises as she heads towards Gel. Her steps are a little slower, but more coordinated this time. When she gets a little farther than she had gotten when she traveled to Rhino, she tries to lift both of her left legs at once, falling onto her side because of it. She just laughs as she rolls a few times before finishing with a crawl to her mother.
Gel giggles, gently nuzzling her daughter. “You’re getting better, Ruby.”
Rhino nods as he smiles at the two. “She’ll have this down in no time.”
She looks at her husband, smiling warmly. "It sure seems that way..." She helps their daughter up to her hooves once more, surprised to see her standing much easier than before. "...maybe sooner..."
He raises an eyebrow as he smiles cheekily at her. "Sooner than no time? Does she already know how and is just toying with us?"
"Oh, hush, you." She sticks her tongue out at him in mock-annoyance. "Are you ready for her next attempt?"
He laughs. "I'm always ready to watch her come to me."
She gently nudges the pink filly towards him. "Go to Daddy."
Rhino spreads his forelegs again. "Come on, Ruby. You can do it."
She coos happily, slowly moving forward. Her steps are more certain, and her bright eyes are focused on him the whole time. Two thirds of the way there, she stumbles, her front half falling to the blanket.
Rhino's eyes are encouraging. "So close..."
She looks up at him, staying there for a moment. She sticks her tongue out, a look of what appears to be concentration on her face.
Gel stares in confusion. "...what is she doing?"
The filly's body slowly rises, her forelegs trembling underneath her. She never takes her eyes off the stallion, eventually standing back up.
His eyes are wide as he looks at the filly. "That's it... you can do it..." He beckons her closer with his hooves.
She totters over to him, giggling in glee. She carefully covers the distance, wrapping her hooves around as much of his muzzle as possible and happily nuzzling him.
The nymph covers her mouth, tears of joy welling in her eyes. "...s-she did it..." She sniffles, smiling softly. "...I'm so happy right now..."
Rhino beams as wide as possible as he hugs the filly. "That's my girl... I'm so proud of you..."
Ruby coos happily, softly nuzzling her daddy.
Gel giggles, shaking her head. "She's getting close to being a hoofful...but I don't think I mind..." She stretches, yawning quietly before standing up.
Rhino looks up at her as Ruby starts trying to climb on top of his nose. "Going somewhere?"
She smirks slightly. "Just going to get some apple juice. You want me to get you anything?"
He looks to the filly staring into his eyes from her seat on his muzzle. "I think I'm good."
***
A little later that day, while the parents and foal are downstairs, two of the pets are a little worried for the third. Specter and Selena sit outside the den-like bed of their silver fox friend.
Inside, Mercury is curled up with his two favorite objects: his blanket and his squeaky fish, Mr. Bubbles.
'You know,' the kitten starts, 'you're probably just overreacting. Mom and Dad still love you.'
The fox doesn't move, but he still responds. 'I know...'
‘Then why are you sulking?' She paws at the tip of his tail.
He tries to curl tighter. 'I just feel like they don't have time for us lately... Ever since the pink one arrived...'
Selena opens her mouth to respond but can't find the words. She turns to the black squirrel, hoping he'll be able to find the words evading her.
Specter tries. 'Look, we knew Mom was going to have a baby, surely you saw them spending some time with it?'
Mercury shifts. 'Some, yes, not all of it. What do we get these days? A few pats on the head, food, and maybe some snuggle time. That's it. Even when they do pay attention, soon something the pink one does draws them away and it's back to being quiet as they see to it.'
'She's a baby.' Selena sighs, placing her paw on his bushy tail. 'She can't take care of herself.' She tilts her head, thinking a bit. 'Granted, they might consider taking care of her one at a time, but they're still getting the hang of being parents.'
Specter adds a few words. 'Things will get better once they get the hang of everything. It's only been a few days.'
The fox swishes his tail. 'I don't know...'
'If it really bothers you, I can always type them a letter.' She peeks inside, trying to make eye contact with him. 'Would that help?'
He turns his head to face her. 'What would it even say?'
'What you want to tell them.' She smiles warmly. 'Your feelings about the situation. Wishes. Stuff like that.' She turns to Specter. 'Does that seem fair?'
The squirrel rubs his head. 'Well... I guess that could work... If I can say something though: we're used to be the only things that need their attention. Maybe now that there's something else, we need to just stop waiting for them to give us attention, and be a little more active in giving it so that we get it? Does that make sense?'
Selena nods. 'It does. We should be careful, though. We don't want to hurt Ruby, after all.' She turns back to the den-bed and pauses, confused. '...where did he go?'
Mercury is already on his way down the stairs, looking for the couple of the house.
He finds the couple on the couch eating a leisurely lunch. Ruby is crawling back and forth between the two as they sit.
Gel's ear twitches and she turns to the fox, smiling softly. "Hey there, little one. Where have you been?"
Mercury walks up to her and sits at her hooves, giving her the cute face.
She giggles, gently petting his head. "You want to join us up here? We have plenty of room."
He smiles and climbs up, curling right up against the side of her that isn't towards Ruby or Rhino.
The nymph tenderly nuzzles his head. "Wouldn't you like to play with your sister? She is your family, after all."
The fox looks over at Ruby, but doesn't make a move to get closer to her.
Gel nervously laughs. "I guess that's a no..."
The pink filly, seeing the pet of her mom, coos brightly and starts crawling over the changeling's back. She reaches out a hoof to him, as if trying to touch his fur.
Mercury backs off a little, but doesn't want to leave Gel's side, so he can't go far.
She stretches further, whining softly when she can't quite reach him. She slips and falls, landing on the fox's back. Thankfully, the height difference wasn't large enough to cause any pain.
The fox is slightly flattened, but he still cranes his neck around to see if she is okay.
She laughs happily, nuzzling his back and reveling in the feel of his fur. She pulls herself up onto his back, choosing to lay down on top of him.
Mercury stares at her before slowly sticking his tongue out and licking the top of her head. 'Maybe you aren't so bad...'
She coos softly, smiling brightly at him. She reaches up and places a hoof on his nose, blowing a raspberry at him.
Gel, watching this, giggles quietly. "...isn't that just adorable, Rhino?"
The stallion nods as he sees the two other shapes watching from the door. "How come you two aren't in on this?"
Selena turns to the squirrel next to her, smiling playfully. 'What do you say? Want to join them?'
Specter performs a bow and gestures. 'After you, milady.'
She purrs, licking his cheek before walking into the room. 'Such a gentlesquirrel.'
His tail flicks happily as he follows her and they both crawl up onto the couch. Both of them end up in Rhino's lap, meaning they receive complimentary petting. They look to see if Mercury will join them, but he's a little... occupied by playing with Ruby.